Salinas Underground

This episode, Cujo was out in the happiest place on earth celebrating a friend's wedding, so we brought on our social media manager, Leah, to fill in for him. She and Oz talk about the continually evolving drinking culture in Oldtown and how bad Oz is at socializing with this new crowd. Oz almost loses Leah with a rant about the new red-light cameras going up on the Northside, but she quickly corrects course, and it's back to talking about drinking.

How does one person create a radio show, a clothing company, a music distribution company, and about half a dozen other projects? That is all going to be answered in this episode where our guest is Ghambit who is originally from Watsonville but now calls Salinas home. Hear his story about his Tree House Club brand and what his future plans are.

The Salinas nightlife scene continues to evolve in Oldtown, so we had to talk to somebody that was in the middle of the revolution. Casey has been a friend of the podcast for years now and is the right person to talk about all the changes. From pouring drinks at 201 to consuming drinks at XL Publichouse, Dubbers, Kings Den, Farmers Union, Jaime's/Jesse's/Sinaloa(seriously what's the official name?) she has the lowdown on the going on's in our beloved partying neighborhood. 

After nearly a decade of drinking in Oldtown, Oz and Cujo wonder what the next drinking establishment in the neighborhood will be? Brew-N-Krew has already announced its brewery and taphouse, but who is going to take the leap and put another full-service bar on Main Street. Also, Oz wonders if his days on this earth are limited due to his insistence on using bootleg vape cartridges he finds in Chinatown.

If we are going to talk about events, we need to bring on someone that knows what they are talking about, so we brought back a familiar face. If you still are not following Masa for the Raza on Instagram, you are missing out and a page with a bunch of events going on from King City to San Jose. Listen as Rob fills us in on what he has seen and what is coming up!

We like to pretend that this show is a deep exploration into Salinas and the surrounding area but really we are just a couple comadres sitting on the stairs gossiping about our week. This week we talk about the interesting vote by a school district to ask the city to cancel their contract with the TV show Live PD and the online fight that ensued. Also, we bring up a radical(strange) idea by a city councilmember to fix the homeless problem by buying them houses and shipping the out of state. Creative but oh-so-dumb.

Once a month for the last 11 months there has been a comedy show in the basement of XL Publichouse that was a showcase of local comedians. It's grown so much that you can now watch comedians from Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. September 28 marks the first anniversary of the Bricks 'N Beer show so we talked to a couple of the key people helping put this show together. Mike Booth and Anthony Barrera are back to let us know what we can expect from the first-anniversary show!!

The Monterey Peninsula Young Professionals is a group that puts on networking event. It was founded by three young women who were tired of the lack of opportunities young professionals in this area had to hang out in a fun, casual environment. Tabitha, Marieke, and Rachel started MPYP earlier this year, and they are already hosting monthly events that bring in dozens of people from all over the Monterey Bay Area. Check out this conversation and see you at the next meetup!

Marlene and Steven are the couple behind Brew-N-Krew the fastest-growing homebrew project in Salinas. They took their passion for brewing their own beer and sharing it with friends and are transforming it into a brewery and tasting room in Oldtown Salinas. They talk about their journey in the beer world and what their plans are for their brewery and also mention some events they will be at where you can sample their tasty brew.

No, Oz and Cujo didn't go out and find some hot gossip from the belly of Salinas, but they did start this episode with a conspiracy that could only happen in 2019: The Saga of Jeffrey Epstein. That has nothing to do with Salinas, so we quickly transition into more local events like the Salinas Valley Food and Wine Festival that went down in Oldtown last Saturday. Also, you know you live in a small city when a CVS getting renovated is celebrated as economic development.

Last week was the 38th annual Steinbeck Festival in Oldtown and were there with our microphones to find some stories! Cujo's schedule was not agreeing with the one for the podcast, so our social media manager Leah jumped on the mic and handled co-hosting duties. We ended up having a great conversation with three powerful women that were all working on helping farmworkers across the country. Lauri Coyle and Albertina Zarazua Padilla worked on a documentary called "Adios Amor" about Maria Moreno one of the first organizers of farmworkers in this country. Also joining us is Valentina from Lideres Campesinas, a national organization working for the rights of women farmworkers across the country. 

This week we have an old friend of the podcast on the show. If you have been to a local event in the last couple of years you probably saw Rob behind a camera or holding a microphone. Through his own show, MASA Rob goes out and promotes as many local events as he can and he is one of the hardest working people out there doing it. He talks to us about his plans for the show and of course we talk about some upcoming events in Salinas.

This episode our guests are the people behind Monterey Flipper Pinball League! That's right Salinas has had a pinball league for at least five years, and we are here to tell you all about it. The first thing you need to know is that they won't be in Salinas for long, but they are not going far as they are only moving 20 minutes away to Seaside. Listen to how they got a pinball league started, what their plans are for the future, and how you can get involved all in this episode!!

This episode is the first to be recorded in our new studio in Oldtown Salinas! That's right we went from a dinner table in Cujo's house to XL Public House, and now we have our own space to keep growing and interviewing all the cool people that make Salinas the dope city that it is. Along those lines, this episode is all about our journey and our new neighborhood. Take a listen and tell us what you think!!

This week we bring back another one of our "Cannabis Report" episodes where we talk to people involved in one of Salinas' newest and fastest growing industries. We talk with Vance, David, and Abraham about their work in the local cannabis industry and how it has changed over the years. Vance and David both work at East of Eden in their delivery division and they talk about the struggles and successes of getting that up and running.

In this episode, Oz tells two stories of two different bars, one in Carmel and one in Salinas. In one he has a great time with friends, music, and dancing and in another, he has to deal with broken glass and people wanting to fight. To figure out which bar is in which city hit that play button!!

The last episode we promised you a recap of the Cali Roots Festival that happened at the Monterey Fairgrounds over Memorial Day weekend so this episode we brought on our social media manager Leah to tell us about her experience. This is Leah's sixth-year-in-a-row attending and camping out all three days at Cali Roots, so she has a lot of stories to share including an infamous after party at Planet Gemini and sneaking into more places than someone hiding from the cops. 

In this episode, we interview several of the comedians from the May 18 edition of the Bricks N' Beer Comedy show that happens monthly at XL Public House. If you have not been to this FREE comedy show, you are missing out on a great night of jokes and beer. But you don't have to take our word for it listen to the comedians tell it in their own words! Featured comedians include Mac Ruiz, Matt Bokemeier, Molly Stein, and the guy that put it all together Mike Booth!

We are back and finally recovered from the drinking madness that was the 2019 Steinbeck Homebrew Festival. The weather was beautiful, and the beer was delicious, at least the ones we remember, and we can't wait to come back next year. We also talk about the events coming up the last couple of weeks of May. If you have any events, you would like us to talk about, send us a message!

We recorded this episode at XL Public House which has been our studio for most of our 200+ episodes we have recorded but this episode was different. This was the last day that the original owners, the De Leon's, we're going to be running the bar! After six years they decided it was time to spend more time with their families and let someone else take over what they have started. We believe the new owners will continue the tradition of being the locals drinking hole and look forward to recording back there under the new owners.